Unfortunately for Nokia Lumia 710 owners on T-Mobile, you may have just been kicked to the second category.

A reader of the site passed on an email from Nokia themselves and it doesn’t come off as customer-service fluff, especially with the news it contains. The email states quite succinctly that the US T-Mobile Lumia 710 will not be getting the 7.8 update because the carrier chose to pass on it:

"In response to your concern, we understand that you want to confirm if the Windows Phone 7.8 will be available for Nokia Lumia 710 from T-Mobile. We are sorry to inform you that there are a small number of operators that have chosen not to offer the update to their users.

It is important to recognize that this decision was made solely by the operator and these include the T-Mobile network in the United States."

That’s certainly a bit of a kick from T-Mobile, though we suppose with the carrier cost of testing the update and the perceived benefit, they decided against it. And although we don’t have a similar confirmation for the HTC Radar, we have a feeling that device will suffer the same fate.

All is not lost though for those with either device as they can opt to manually install the update via CAB files. Though a tad tricky, the update will successfully bump the OS up through Tango to Windows Phone 7.8, giving some solace to those in this position.

One final middle finger from Microsoft, Nokia and T-Mobile on this phone. While the Lumia 710 was fun when I first got it, no update for this phone means is is now obsolete.
I had already decided to get a Google Nexus 4 and use it on T-Mobile when I heard that WP7 phones were not getting WP8. I had to wait for Google and LG to get their act together and get the phone in stock on Google Play. Luckily the got the Nexus back in stock, and I got the phone before I heard this news.
Want to bet that the eBay resale value on T-Mobile Lumia 710's drop like a lead ballon?
Tell Microsoft to call me when they get their Windows Phone sitation straightened out, and I may check them out again. Maybe Microsoft should sell their own unlocked phone that is not tethered to any carrier like Google does with their Nexus line.

so you are now on 4.2 that is slow & buggy or on 4.1 that is 98% smoothe and obsolete?
project butter my a** .only nokia could make butter smoothe android but there is only 1small thing...
NOKIA DOESNT GO THAT WAY
:D

Folks...
So two technical points and a PoV
1. Using Yamagushi's tools and method mentioned in one of earlier replies - I sucessfully updated my TMO-US HTC Radar from 8107 Build to 8858 (7.8) - so many thanks. And yes for those folks concerns - updates did not impact any existing settings / content on the device - just follow the directions and you should be fine. A test of all services, WiFi, BT, Maps, Internet Sharing, Visual Voice Mail all worked fine.
2. Using Nokia Care Suite and Navifirm - was able to confirm at least as of today 2/3 that there is NOT an offiical 8858 build from Nokia for TMO-US Lumia 710 RM-803 - the only build available was the current 8773 and so you can only refurbish.. While certainly that may change since there are available builds for many TMO EU locations- I am not holding my breath. You can update using the same method as above - just start with 8779 build - works fine as well
As others have note - these updates are WP OS only - no firmware, radio upgrades, etc
Finally as many have commented A) 7.8 is nice and adds a little bit of life to existing WP7.5 devices till renewal comes up B) having been involved with WP devices since way back in the HTC MDA - Wallaby days to today - MS's approach when compared to others is just old.
While I can certainly understand the myriad of builds, languages, etc to support the worldwide telephony ecosystem - MS's position that the OEMs and Providers are their only real customers and that WP is just another "embedded" OS will continue to drain the ecosystem and put downward pressure on those OEMs. While some of the current pain that companies like HTC and Nokia are experiencing is self inflicted - the current paths they are on reminds me of the similar path that Nortel was on when they partnered with MS in UC.

This is what Tmobile support twitted me. @TMobileHelp: @Deawoo9 T-Mobile has not released any official details at this time, once we have news it will be posted at http://t.co/fSRhfXNJ ^LM so maybe a sliver of hope yet.

It's not about TMO selling alot of L710s or bothering with the update for a few units sold. It's about EXCEEDING CUSTOMERS EXPECTATIONS. Waiting til release day and play dumb says screw you customers. Where's my money.

This is going to be the first of a lot of bad news for US customers on a US carrier. If T-Mobile is doing this, what makes you think that ATT and the numerous WP's they have is going to even bother with this?
This is all not surprising to me. I knew this would happen, and everyone on ATT should not be surprised when they find out do not get an "official" update. Man I am so glad I have custom roms...and there is an option to update through cabs.

No i just used Zune i am from Montenegro, europe and the phone was bought in greece also europe so i didnt hack it or anything else just used the Zune and he automatically recognized that my phone needed update so i ran 3 updates one after another and when it was finished about half an hour later i got my 7.8 update and that's it

"Verizon seems to be the best for WP8" are you kidding? No word at all from them on the Portico update for any of their phones. I have a Verizon HTC 8X. HTC has almost no exclusive apps and Verizon isn't providing updates. It's clear to me that Nokia/AT&T is the way to go.

Yes it works. I successfully flashed my Lumia 710 carrier locked to T-Mobile US with the official RTM WP7.8. Just be aware that the WPHacker tool (seveneighter) doesn't update the firmware, so don't expect any changes besides the obvious cosmetic ones.
I recommend you install ALL of the language packs to avoid any future problems, but it's up to you.

Updated last night using WPHacker tool/app; thanks for the advice. Does anyone know whether there is a 7.8 firmware for the US T-mobile 710 (rm-809) on Nokia Care Suite? I had tried that method about a month ago, but there were only latin american builds which would not allow me to use 4G.
Alternatively, I had heard that they were closing NCS to the general public?

i saw that my version was on nokia server.i instaled nokia care suite& checked my vers ,download software but didnt instaled.that was month and half ago.after i saw news here i force zune.it took me 4x,waiting 6-7sec to unplug cable.first was firmeare that couple of updates

Its T-mobile. I'm not surprised. The Lumia game in the US is now being taken seriously only by Verizon and At&t with the upcoming announcement of TWO flagship devices. Mean while T-mobile and Sprint are no where to be found. Oh well. Verizon is the best thing for WP8 right now so well take what we can get.

Maybe someone could get in contact with them and ask just how much I needed to spend in order to be eligible for this? Was spending $300 on the 710 not enough? I need to join the $500 club? Seems like we are being punished for being budget concious smartphone owners. Total shame because I got great reception from them and loved the phone - but Im definitely going to look into other options. I vote with my money. The only power I have as a consumer. Corporate America is just so mindnumbingly clueless.

Carriers are making all the other OEM's their own.... Apple seems like the only one to get away with being able to directly update their devices. Once an update for iOS is out, it is out for all their devices. I can understand that Windows Phone has difference devices, thus different hardware, but really now, make an effort to get it out to everyone. Is T-Mobile really going to lose that money by allowing the update?

I really feel bad for you guys on T-Mobile, but as I've said before, carriers and OEM's (other than Nokia) have little incentive to prepare and release this update. They want new contracts and new phone sales.

I have a Trophy on Verizon and am hoping, since they only have one device to update, that they will do what's good for their customers. Though I am eager to see what Nokia is bringing to Verizon, until that's available (and I can afford it), I'd like my Trophy to be all it can be.

But I did take the risk with the early Mango upgrade, so maybe I'll do the same with 7.8 ...

couple days ago i called t-mob tech agents & asked them about 7.8 update.they didnt know anything about it but my friend is on bon-bon network wich is owned by t-mob updated his l710 normal way.he got noted about update & i needed to force it

This is some fracklenacklebull!! It's no wonder the cable trick didn't work. I'm more annoyed than anything, since I'm already upgrading to the 810 next week. Still this is a very dumb move on TMo considering they're aren't many Windows phones to choose from.

This is so disheartening. I have stood by Nokia, Tmobile, and even Microsoft through this whole ordeal. All have dissapointed me in their handling of this transition now.
Nokia is the only one that seems to be pulling its weight for the most part. Then again, Nokia's livelihood does depend on it moreso than T-mobile and Microsoft.

The only downside is that the firmware that Nokia released coinciding with the WP7.8 rollout isn't included, meaning that you can't switch search providers or use Nokia's Bluetooth Share and Ringtone Maker apps until the firmware is updated.

Trouble is the HD7 did according to some HD7 users. This is typical of carriers, people seem to blame the OEMs all the time for not getting an update, when in reality its the carriers fault. Like in this instance. Though glad to see people not blame Nokia so far.

HTC was the one who released a statement about having no plans to push the update. They have a well-documented history of pushing out new phones instead of updates to fix critical flaws with existing phones.

Why not, when my monthly bill for 3 people is over $50 less per month than the equivalent service from AT&T and Verizon. If Microsoft/Nokia sold unlocked/unbranded frequency-compatible phones, I could buy a new phone every year and my yearly total would still be less than being on AT&T/Verizon.

...with the added fact that T-Mobile is the only carrier offering unlimited data plans for cheap besides Sprint (Unless my facts are outdated of course). The magenta clad carrier is also in progress in offering LTE coverage to customers.

Its a stupid fucking question in a fucking public forum so its my business the fucking question had been discussed at length on here stop reading articles then going to the fucking end of the comments and asking a question that's why there are hundreds of post to read through on every fucking article people just going and asking the same questions over and over just read first

"though we suppose with the carrier cost of testing the update and the perceived benefit, they decided against it"
This is the biggest sham ever perpetrated on consumers. There isn't JACK SHIT that they need to "test" except "does this cause us to lose money on shit we shouldn't be charging for" and for that I could care less.

Microsoft should never stand up on stage and make promises that all phones will get it if indeed they won't.

Oh and Microsoft, where is that enthusiast early upgrade program you ALSO promised?

I'm an HTC Trophy owner, I feel your pain. I'm lurking over here because my step daughter has a 710.
Got a Tweet from T-Mobile after berating them a little bit...maybe all is not lost. This is the tweet that I received:

Have Microsoft even announced this update? There is nothing about it on their official Windows Phone blog. It's all being handled very strangely. I remember they even said at one point that this update would bypass the carriers.

Why yes, they did roll out the Tango update. The only thing was that a few users didn't get it until 3 months later.

Anyway, T-Mobile is foolish to use their "skip one update" opportunity, due to the fact that many people have already left the 4th biggest US carrier and are moving to Verizon, AT&T, and even Sprint, the three offering LTE but only one offering unlimited data plans but spotty reception. If they continue down this path, they will eventually lose many users to the point where big magenta has to call it quits.

And this is where not having a contract pays off. T-Mobile just lost me as a customer. That's just a scumbag move.
It is so entrirely easy to gain followers for life. Just treat people fairly. So incredibly simple.

The most pecuiliar thing happened to my Lumia 710. When I plugged it in to Zune, it showed another update, but when it finished, it reverted back to WP 7.5 Tango. I was mad when it happened.

Anyway, running the tool now. I'll update when it finishes.

*UPDATE*
Went through 4 updates before hitting Windows Phone 7.8.
Somehow, the bluetooth share app doesn't work anymore. There's no aforementioned option to set Google or Bing as default search provider. Turns out that you NEED the new Nokia Firmware released for Windows Phone 7.8 to use Bluetooth Share and Ringtone Maker, as well as have the option to change search providers (Bing or Google)

I updated my T-mobile Nokia 710 using the simplified tool. I'm unable to download the Bluetooth Share but the Ringtone Maker works just fine. I installed it today so you may try to see if you can get the Ringtone Maker. I can't see any reason why the Ringtone Maker would require updated OS.
The Bluetooth Share shows only 7.5 is required but somehow it would not allow me to download. As to the search provider, it doesn't really matter that much to me at least since I have Google Search installed.

Curiously T-Mobile Deutschland had not released the 7.8 on any devices either. I asked today (regarding a Lumia800) and they said this:
"das Update ist für das Windows Phone 7 noch nicht verfügbar. In Kürze wird dieses aber auch hierfür zur Verfügung stehen. Sie werden damit alle Win8 Funktionen nutzen können."
Quick translation: the update for WP7 isn't available yet. Soon it will also be available. You'll then be able to use all functions of Win8 (which I think they meant WP8.

While obviously by "WP8 functions" they mean resizable tiles, I wonder if T-Mobile added anything extra do their 7.8 update.

Anyway, I tried the cable trick and the most curious thing happened: an update shows, from Nokia. It bumps the Firmware to 8858, the OS version remains the 8779 and the software still shows "7.5" and keeps everything as it was. The update that shows has this log:
- fixes an issue with app purchases in some regions
- Changes default sync times for email

Updates are a carriers arch enemy, they want people to buy new devices, not update the ones they already have, Orange UK are a nightmare for updates, i dare say that if my 920 wasnt so new then i probably wouldnt have got portico, manage to force the update on my sons 710 but my daughters omina 7 is still on 7740 and just refuses to be forced, look like i might have to do a manual update (or debrand/unlock it)

It's easy. Follow the link in yesterday's article to download the app and run it. You probably need Zune and Windows Phone Support Tool. The app will ask you to install them if you don't have it. For my Focus with 7720 build, it took at least 6 or 7 updates to arrive at the final version 8858. Some updates cause phone to take long time to reboot. Be patient. And make sure to check off the launguages you need include when you run the app. It took good 30 minutes or more to complete for me.

i spoke to a T-mobile rep the other day and she states that T-mobile had no idea there was even an update to begin with and there was no information to be given out to consumers at that time. Such a big let down, since it was a Lumia device. As soon as i saw this article, i tried the manual installation of the CAB files with the Windows phone hacker tool, and so far it works great. No problems to report at this time.

Tmobile reps lie and/or are a bunch of idiots. I had 3 different reps all tell me they had no idea what mango was. 1 even told me that windows phone 8 was coming at the end of the year, which was back in 2011, which obviously didn't happen.

I spoke with a dummy similar to that and then asked to be transfered to tech support, where the guy told me that the update is in the pipe, but there's no firm date of release. I wonder, if he just said it so I would leave him alone

Because technically the carrier sold you the phone and in a lot of cases, subsidized it. Carriers want to know what is running on their network--it is theirs, after all. So they tend to have strict policies about software updates.

All this testing for eash network is a toss I have used my unlocked phone in Australia,Most of Asia an Europe and have never had a problem in any country with getting a sim card to work.
Microsoft should give everyone an easy way to update manually if we want. ( at our own risk of corse).

I agree. Carriers have too much control, especially in the US. If I get HPI on a car, the financing company doesn't dictate what I listen to on the radio. If I get a mortgage, my bank doesn't dictate how I decorate my home. There's absolutely no reason why the carrier should control the user experience of the device. They provide the network, only.

You people are asleep at the wheel. Did you not see Microsoft and Nokia's end of quarter earnings a few days ago. They are raking in billions off you. And TMO aka Deutsche Telekom, 130 million customers worldwide. You trying to spend all your money; they are trying rake in all your money. Stepping on your toes along the way.

No u r wrong.... Actualy google is an open platform
so they even dont know which phone will get ics or jb fm gingerb.... But ms is well organized... So they can deliver an update to all of their phone successfully.... Just like apple... But they cannot interfere in carriers policies. Ie they cannot force...

I'm guessing the asterisk is to indicate the unlocked GSM version? I recall lots of people feeling cheated that their Verizon GNex didn't get the Jelly Bean update at the same time as the unlocked gsm GNex.

well that's horseshit too because the disappearing keyboard WAS a critical flaw and ATT passed on that.
Microsoft has ceded ALL of the control of updates to the carriers, and that is one thing that will cause this platform to fail.

Aside from apple, no company can wield such power. If they want to sell phones, they have to give this sort of power to the carriers. Carriers (especially in the US, not entirely sure on the specifics of other countries) can make or break a device and MS is at their mercy.

It would be nice if, rather than making empty promises about updates, Microsoft focused on things they can control. How about offering at least one carrier unlocked phone through the Microsoft Store as a flagship that would be guaranteed to receive updates? Heck, maybe this could be a niche for a MS Surface phone that wouldn't step too much on their partners' toes. It's not like this is a radical idea. Google has their Nexus phone (of which the latest model appears to be selling well) and Apple sells unlocked iPhones through their store.

It's really easy to blame MS as the company at fault when tmobile is clearly the culprit. MS never promised/guaranteed anyone specific an update, they merely said the update would be available for all wp7 devices. They still have to go through the carriers who test it on their networks before release. Apple sells unlocked phones at their store at least a few months after release (the 5 didnt start till december), and I can get the lumia 900 fully unlocked easily. This is the first gen of WP8 so we have to wait at least for the second gen before we can get a flagship first gen fully unlocked phone (the US is strange on these things). You can always order the Rogers Lumia 920 from Canada and it will work on both Tmobile and ATT. Also, the nexus came out many years after android did, and it was after they were pretty established. Our platform is a baby and still needs to take some ground before doing anything like this. I really hope thats what the surface phone will be, but only time will tell.

I completely agree that in this particular case, the blame lies squarely with T-Mobile. And in any case where a Windows Phone update is held back either due to a carrier or handset maker, those parties should be held responsible. That's reality.
However, Microsoft is ultimately responsible for the strategy they choose in dealing with the reality they face, and part of that is how they address the update situation and how they communicate that to their end users. Microsoft sold WP 7 as being a sort.of best of both worlds when it was launched. Unlike Apple, it would be a platform available from multiple handset makers and would allow for more diverse hardware. However, unlike Android, the platform would be more tightly controlled and carriers would have limited ability to hold back updates, so fragmentation wouldn't be a concern. This was Microsoft's message - or at least it was the message they allowed to be reported. That set the expectations.
When WP8 was launched, MS again discussed the update situation, including how they would put a program in place to allow end users to get updates (at their own risk) even if the carriers wouldn't push them. I don't think anyone has heard anything more about that, though, which is strange to me. If the details were set, why isn't that program already live? And if the details aren't set, why not keep it quiet until it's ready? Is there some sort of deep miscommunication going on internally, or some sort of bizarre self-delusion among WP management?
If seems that getting timely updates out is important enough to MS that they feel compelled to talk about their planned approaches at the platform launches. Given that they appear to have limited clout with the carriers, their plan B was apparently the enthusiast program for WP8, which so far isn't live. Has that run into a roadblock? If so, what's their plan C? What are their options for limiting interference from the carriers (and also failings of handset makers, like the 7.8 update situation with LG).

The only reality is that in the US, this is the only way to do it if you want carriers to sell your phones (unless of course you are apple). Obviously we already have way more hardware diversity than apple, and I firmly believe we are miles ahead of android. MS has released the update for all phones, as have most OEMs. This is exclusivly the fault of carriers. On android, oems dont even release updates. Also, throughout most of the world, updates arent a problem. Again, MS didnt promise any of this, this is what they set out to do and are mostly successful. We always have cab files to update our phones, but wp8 has only launched in november. I too heard about the program but all things take time. If they didnt, we would have a notification center already and google wouldnt need to extend eas support. But if they don't say anything, people again get impatient and say exactly what you said and how MS doesn't want to support their customers. I think this was the best of 2 crappy situations that they are stuck in being a newcomer with almost no mindshare. The DPV and LG phones have to use the cab method, which seems suspiciously easy to utilize. We dont know everything, but I'd say we're doing way better than android.

Yes, I have agreed with you that any specific case of a Windows phone not getting updated is the fault of the carrier or handset maker. But Microsoft is still the one that has been responsible for raising the expectations of people with so far unwarranted happy talk about upgrade potential. (As far as I can tell, Google generally hasn't tried to spin the upgrade situation with Android much. As a result, people who care about updates on the Android side don't seem to bear any particular ill will towards Google when their phones aren't updated, but rather focus on the carriers and handset makers.)

So the reality is that essentially any Windows Phones on US carriers - old or current - may have their SUPPORTED upgrade paths terminated at any time by the 'middlemen' between MS and the end user. This is a problem for the platform. Android is absolutely in the same boat. And yes, having rooted and installed custom ROMs on Android phones, hacking an update to a Windows Phone is easier. But it's still an unsupported (void the warranty, potentially brick the phone) hack that won't include things like firmware updates that may be necessary to fix some issues or take full advantage of new features.

But as much as I dislike Android in many respects, I think Google has come up with a pretty good response to the reality of the situation through their Nexus phones. Enthusiasts who want to be reasonably assured of getting updates without carrier interference or hacking can pick up one of those, while the carriers can keep control of the mass market handsets. And those that want to root and hack their phones can keep doing that. If Microsoft can get the WP8 enthusiast program going, and if it works like it should, then I can see that as a superior approach. But I'm not encouraged by their track record.

You say you agree but you keep going back to MS's track record. Again, the US isn't the only market in the world; it is an extremely strange one though. What MS said is true most places in the world. Most people outside the US are getting the updates. The market here gives an extreme amount of power to the carriers and thats a truth MS has to deal with. I guess what I'm trying to imply is that MS has no say in the matter, lest they lose the support of the carriers. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by raising the expectations of people or where you are getting info about what they are doing. They said the update would be made available for each phone to the OEMs and it is. They never mentioned that they could get around the middle man because that is unrealistic. While it is true that talk and rumors build up expectations based on one or two sentences from a company, but that again is no fault of MS.

It worked for my Nokia Lumia 710 locked to T-Mobile US, so yes. The update works. Just be aware of the risks of bricking your phone, since seveneighter does use the same method as the CAB method. Since Zune uses this process as well, that means that no personal data is erased.

However, I've already received the same notification from version 7.5 (Tango or Mango) saying that I need to update my phone on the Nokia Bluetooth Sahre and Ringtone Maker App. The tile animation when you click on one is slower, so be sure to get acquainted with it. There's no lockscreen music control and as far as I can tell, no option to set either Google or Bing as default search provider. Plus, seveneighter ONLY installs the 7.8 OS, with no hint of new Nokia firmware, so the two mentioned Nokia apps will not work.

The "wphack app" you mention is actually called seveneighter, the program you use to force update your phone if the Zune cable trick doesn't work and if you're too afraid of bricking your phone with the manual .CAB method.

Just be aware that seveneighter doesn't upgrade the firmware, just the OS, so don't be surprised if the features you receive are only on the cosmetic side.

True. Just want to clarify as it read as though no windows phones would be getting the update on Tmobile. I guess I know why the cable trick didn't work now. I also apparently know what I'll be doing this weekend #WPHacker app.

I was wondering why the cable trick wasn't working for me, too. I tried about 20 times last night. *sigh* Thanks a whole lot, T-Mobile. :(
Looks like 1 year later with the Lumia 710 on T-Mobile, we're all put out to pasture...to join our many, many Android brethren. What a disgrace.

The tool only runs on Windows 7, not XP or Windows 8. Just updated and it went flawlessly. My DVP is like a new phone. Much zippier and the tile resizing is great. If you look hard enough there are little changes sprinkled throughout. Now time watch some football.
There is an excellent walkthrough of the process for any noob attempting to use the update tool at of all places a site called the droidguy. Enjoy. http://thedroidguy.com/2013/02/windows-phone-7-8-manual-update-tutorial/

Just an FYI, technically these files and walkthrough will work for any phone currently on 8107 that have the 5 (and only the 5!) languages that I listed. Doesn't have to be Tmobile or a Radar. But you do have to be on 8107 and have only those 5 languages.